I am a grand niece of this man, General Lucian King Truscott. He started a tradition of generational offerings to the Point including my sister, who had the appointment from Tom DeLay in 1987, but opted for an Air Force enlistment instead, much to my parents shock and dismay.One of the things we had been talking about in the limo last night were how those at war now chose to be and therefore deserve little special consideration from people in the states. Extra commentary was related to this disdain in light of the fact that those who predominantly recieve my support are jarheads...though Sgt. Grumpy is no slacker.
I really wanted a shot at them, but I hadn't been drinking the champagne and so I managed some level of self control. (hush Lana, Marci and Jeanni) I had some help since Ethan managed to keep intermittently passing enough gas to break up this sorry ass thread of conversation with other more general topics reflective of this family.
Let's hear it for domestic biowarfare.
Eventually conversations completely ended--they had to stop the limo eventually-- and as I drove home I thought about it. I sat up to write some email and look at some of LKTs old letters, this magazine I inherited and his papers online. I came across a quote that I plan on taking to my folks tonight. I'm going to tell them Uncle Lucian reminds me of this MARINE I know. He said this to his son, Lucian King Truscott, II:
"Let me tell you something, and don't ever forget it. You play games to win, not lose. And you fight wars to win. That's spelled W-I-N ! And every good player in a game and every good commander in a war...has to have some son of a bitch in him. If he doesn't, he isn't a good player or commander....It's as simple as that. No son of a bitch, no commander."
This resonates in ways I am only now beginning to grasp. It is applicable to not just success in war and military life, but also in how you successfully live your life as a civilian.
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